I recently finally won the battle to save (barely!) my beloved 20 year old
jade. It was already in the hugest pot I could find, which didn't have
drainage. I should have known better than to take chances, I know, but I
watered it sporadically, always checking to make sure the soil was dry
first. Last summer it began to lose hundreds of leaves after dark spots
appeared. All I could find online were scores of other similar complaints,
with dire prognoses offered of root rot and bleak prospects for survival. I
tried everything I could lay my hands on to no avail. Watching this plant
slowly die despite my best efforts was killing me! Finally, in desperation,
I tried something I had read about for mildew on books: thymol. I sprinkled
some on the soil and let each light watering wash a little into the soil.
Amazingly, this seemed to turn the tide! Now my jade is bouncing back,
though skeletal, with new buds forming & no more leaves dying. (Needless
to say I also subsequently drilled some drainage holes into the bottom of
the pot so as not to take further chances!) I realize this sounds like a
drastic measure but I was desperate! Interestingly, my daughter then
systematically empirically compared thymol to several remedies sold to
combat fungus (Neem Oil, Desenex, Garden Fungicide, etc.) against bread mold
& yeast for a science fair project, and thymol was dramatically superior to
anything else (she won first prize for her project too!). I know most
people wouldn't have ready access to thymol--I was able to buy some from
Sigma through my university affiliation. But it worked for me! Susan